Ohio Poetry Association Blog

Poet Gary Ketchum selected first place winner of the 2020 prize; OPA's Susann Moeller earns Honorable Mention The National Federation of State Poetry Societies (NFSPS) is pleased to announce the 1st place winner of the 2020 BlackBerryPeach Spoken and Heard competition, Gary Ketchum of New Port Richey, Florida. The BlackBerryPeach Contest is a major NFSPS competition that challenges poets to present their best original poetry in print and spoken word. This year's judge, Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer comments, "Poetry began, after all, as an oral and aural art and I love the way this contest harkins to those origins." A record number of entries this year is proof that interest in spoken word poetry continues to grow. Florida led the nation in number of entries, followed by Colorado and Ohio. The second-place winner is Jessica Hassell of New Jersey, and third place goes to Amanda Bailey of Minnesota. The Honorable Mention Award winners are Josh Conklin of New Hampshir...

The National Federation of State Poetry Societies (NFSPS), an organization to which the  Ohio Poetry Association belongs,  named Westerville, Ohio poet and OPA member,  Betty Bleen as runner up in the prestigious BlackBerryPeach Spoken and Heard competition. Bleen has been invited to read her poem at the NFSPS national convention in Denver, Colorado on June 2, 2018, along with the other prizewinners. The  BlackBerryPeach competition challenges poets to present their original poetry in print and spoken word. First Place went to  Rosemerry Trommer of Placerville, Colorado.  As 1 st  place winner Trommer receives the grand prize of $1,000.  The second place prize winner of $500 is Susan Chambers of Good Thunder, Minnesota. Third place winner of $250 is Ryan Jones of Grayson, Georgia.  Vice President Joe Cavanaugh, chair of the contest stressed the importance of reaching out to all poets by recognizing spoken poe...